Of Calescence and Chroma - Chapter Four
Of Calescence and Chroma
Chapter Four
“What happened,” Jungmo asked kindly as he settled himself uninvited on Hoon’s bed.
“Nothing,” the young vampire snapped, cradling his injured wrist and stubbornly staring at the wall.
“Ah, yes,” Jungmo replied knowingly. “Nothing is something that could certainly upset anyone.”
“It was just a note,” Hoon growled, irritated, “He didn’t have to break my wrist over it.”
“People tend to have different reactions when someone touches what was theirs. We had a vampire here once who used to throw things if he thought someone has so much as looked at something of his. There was a point in time that we didn’t so much as keep a china plate anywhere in his wing of the building. Eventually, of course, he figured out that throwing pillows and blankets wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he thought it was and he changed tactics.” Jungmo held out a mug of dark red liquid. “Here this will help.”
Hoon glared at it for a moment before snatching it. In one gulp he downed the contents of the mug, the rewarmed blood sliding down his throat like cough syrup. He grimaced and sighed. “Thank you.”
“It’s no trouble,” Jungmo responded, accepting the cup back from him.
The silence stretched on for several minutes before Hoon spoke again. “I think it was a letter from a woman that he used to be close to,” the young vampire said quietly.
“His former mate I would imagine.”
Hoon’s head snapped up and he stared at the man sitting beside him, “What?”
Jungmo shrugged as if it made no difference to him. “I had heard of a lone wolf mated pair that lived around here. Although uncommon, it isn’t unheard of, so I didn’t think anything of it. I believe it was a year or so ago though that something terrible happened. No one is really clear but somehow she was killed, leaving him behind.”
“How do you think it happened?” Hoon asked softly.
“The best explanation I have heard is a freak hunting accident, but why they were hunting with silver bullets no one can figure out,” Jungmo told him.
All at once, several things clicked into place. “It wasn’t an accident,” Hoon said firmly, not believing it until the words were out of his mouth.
“You can’t possibly know that,” Jungmo replied gently.
“Yes I do. A while ago, before Kiseop grounded me to the Seeth, there were people in the forest. From what I could see of their auras they looked like they wanted to kill. We snuck away from them and I had to sleep at Soohyun’s house because of the sun. When I left the next night, I didn’t see any trace of them but tonight Soohyun told me that they were hunters that hunted things they considered non-human, he seemed sure. What if these Hunters are the ones that shot his mate? If he is right then it wasn't an accident and-” Hoon broke off abruptly as the nights events fluttered through his mind.
“What is it?” Jungmo prompted, focused and intent on what Hoon had to say.
There was moment's pause, then, “It could be nothing.”
“It usually isn’t.”
“Soohyun was covered in blood tonight, human blood and his aura was really bright, angry almost but deeper. He has a mark on his shoulder that is too new to have been from when we saw the Hunters together even if it were from silver.” Things were starting to add up in his head and Hoon didn’t like where they were going. “What if he is hunting the Hunters?” Hoon whispered.
“That would be disastrous. Not only are the Hunters likely to figure out he is coming after them and take measures, but the other supernatural community members won’t stand quietly, not for long. He puts too much risk of exposure of all of us and if these are truly Hunters, we are lucky that they are killing and not taking various samples of us to study.”
Jungmo studied Hoon for a moment and then told him firmly, “You have to get him to stop. If you can’t Jay will have to and I don’t think that will end well for anyone.”
Hoon’s eyes widened at the implications. “I’ll try.”
“That is all anyone can ask,” Jungmo agreed with a nod. He placed a hand on Hoon’s arm. “Not tonight I think, but tomorrow.”
After a moment, Hoon nodded in reluctant agreement.
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He had a plan, or something that faintly resembled one. It had taken most of his trip through the forest to figure out what he was going to say and he still wasn't fully certain that he knew. An apology was probably in order, although Soohyun had broken his wrist. It had already healed well enough and after a bit of his Maker's blood, it was just a bit tender. Had he still been human there probably would have been nothing that could have saved the wrist.
Still, Hoon had messed with what was not his, in the innermost sanctum of a werewolf no less. He figured that made him deserve whatever he got in return for that infraction even if it was much more violent than what was acceptable by human standards. Hoon had only been something other than strictly human for a short amount of time, but he had already figured out that things didn’t quite work the same way in this new world.
His speech was nearly complete in his head as he silently turned through the last bush and then instantly froze. He had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed what his own senses had been telling him. There, scattered in front of Soohyun’s house, were six humans that didn’t belong. Their auras boiled with harsh colors that he recognized as contempt, anger, and hate. On the ground, snarling in anger and caught halfway between man and wolf, was Soohyun. Pure silver wound around his body in the form of chains, complete with a thick collar. Blood oozed from beneath the metal as he struggled against it.
One of the men that Hoon could only assume were Hunters, was holding a gun pointed at the werewolf. If they were this well prepared, he knew it was likely the gun was loaded with silver. Without further thought, Hoon reacted using a boost of his new found speed. Dashing across the small clearing in front of the house, he hit the man standing over Soohyun, reaching for the gun.
There shouldn’t have been any contest in terms of strength, as Hoon now had the strength of a vampire which was ten times that of a man. Despite that, the Hunter had far more experience. The human released the gun to him and twisted before kicking out. The foot connected with Hoon’s diaphragm and sent him reeling backwards. A second later pain bloomed from his back.
“Fucking supernatural monster,” the Hunter spat lunging forward. Human fingers closed on Hoon’s neck and momentum sent him falling backwards. With his vampire reflexes and strength, it should have been easy to avoid or simply just stand against, but for some reason he had no strength. A moment later, fear flared in him, as he realized he couldn’t bring himself to move. Hoon’s back slammed into the ground, driving the sharp pain further through him and out the other side of his chest. In horror he tried to look down at his own chest but he couldn’t manage to even get his head to tip that way.
“Must be a baby vamp for a stake to have worked so effectively. The last one I tried it on didn’t seem to work this well,” a different human voice said as a man loomed over him. The man’s aura thrummed with satisfaction.
A stake, Hoon realized belatedly, he had been run through with a stake to the heart. He hadn’t realized that would do anything to his kind, but it appeared that he was an idiot. Once again he had acted without thinking and this time, it seemed, the consequences would be far worse.
Beside him, Soohyun’s struggles increased in intensity as did his growls. “Where is your cockiness now?” Came the sound of one of the humans voices. “What’s the matter? You can’t bother to form words? You’ll die growling and slobbering just like your little wolf bitch.”
Abruptly the growls cut off, only to be replaced with a long low note that would have sent chills through Hoon’s body if he had been able to move. He wasn’t overly familiar with the cries of wolves, but he had to imagine it couldn’t be anything good for the hunters.
“Aw maybe if you die like a good little dog, we’ll throw your body into the fire with your house,” a Hunter taunted.
Carefully Hoon drew in a shallow breath despite the pain it caused him and paid attention to the scents his nose brought him. He smelled blood, his and Soohyun’s but layered over that was the smell of smoke.
“What do you want done with this one?” A hunter asked.
“Burn it with the house,” the human he had attacked replied with no more concern than he would have had for garbage.
Although he couldn't turn his head, couldn't manage to get his throat to work to form sound, or anything more than shallowly draw in breath, he could hear just fine. The splash of liquid over his body and the stench of gas were all clearly definable to his brain. As a vampire he was much more sturdy than any human. A stake through the heart, although paralyzing, would not do any real permanent damage. Flames, however, would be more than capable of killing even the strongest and oldest of his kind.
Desperately he called out in panic with the only thing he could, his mind.
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“I don't know. I would like to go somewhere warm on vacation this year,” Kevin admitted. Kiseop couldn't help but to smile as he carded his hands through the hair of his young pet that was stretched out on the bed with him. “I mean I can still go in the sun and enjoy that but maybe we can find somewhere where it is warm at night to so we can all go swimming or something. It might be good for Hoon.”
“That might be,” Kiseop agreed quietly. Something normal like a vacation might help his young vampire to settle more securely into his new way of life.
“I mean it wouldn't have to be anything big,” Kevin rattled on, staring at the ceiling as he let his thoughts pour out from between his lips. “It wouldn’t even have to be expensive although I’m sure -” abruptly his speech cut off as his head and upper body dropped flat onto the bed. A moment ago they he had been supported by the body of the vampire to whom he belonged. Now they were simply gone.
Leaning up on his elbows revealed that Kiseop was nowhere to be found. The door stood open, as if someone had simply not bothered to close it. It had been a long time since he had seen the vampire move with the speed he was capable of. Kevin knew that it must be something truly wrong to cause the man to leave him without a single word.
Rolling off the bed, Kevin gathered his robe about himself and located his lost slipper. He refused to just lay around and wait to be told what was going on. Instead he would go and make someone tell him what was going on.
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The blond vampire wrinkled his nose. Standing just outside his door was one of the Seethe that now smelled of fear, anger, and confusion. Sungjong wished that the one would enter his rooms unannounced. Just once he would love for someone here to challenge him, but it appeared that all were scared of him. That was alright too.
With a grin he reached out with his mind and opened the door, allowing the other vampire access to his rooms. Young Kiseop walked in. He was an interesting one, or so Sungjong thought. His Talent was both destructive and dangerous, something that would be interesting for the much older vampire to cultivate in himself. He simply hadn’t felt the desire to do so yet.
“Sungjong,” Kiseop said softly and then dropped to a knee and a deep formal bow. “I come to ask a favor of you, as I know no other that is capable of what I need.”
Interesting indeed. Sungjong laughed lightly and pushed off from the ceiling where he had been standing as if gravity made no difference to him. Effortlessly, in mid air he flipped, and landed silently on the balls of his feet in front of the vampire. If he had startled the other creature it wasn’t evident.
“Speak,” he told the other in a sing song voice. Occasionally, Sungjong would have killed the other vampire out right for even daring to ask for a favor, but he was feeling a touch playful and more than a little bored.
“There is something wrong with my Child. I can feel him. He is hurt and in danger, but he is not close. I fear there would not be time for me to locate him on my own which would undoubtedly be a lengthy process. I know that you have abilities that let you move from one space to another within a breath. I ask that you take me,” Kiseop released in a rush, not looking up from where his head was bowed.
“And what,” Sungjong dropped into a crouch and lifted the other vampire’s face with a finger, “is in it for me?” His grin spread at the thought of all the delicious possibilities that could be offered to him.
“I know that you long for playthings, that you haven’t had much to do recently. I offer you whatever has caused trouble for my Child. Whatever it is, it is yours,” Kiseop replied after a moment. The vampire was clearly trying to keep his gaze steady and it amused Sungjong. The prospect of new things to play with was almost to good to pass up.
“And if it turns out to be nothing?” Sungjong asked.
“Then you may have me,” Kiseop replied without a moment's hesitation.
Sungjong’s grin widened. Either way it was much better than hanging about his ceiling and it would keep him occupied until his puppies returned. “Done,” he declared. Then faster than the other vampire could move, Sungjong struck and sunk his teeth into Kiseop’s neck.
A single drop of blood would have been more than enough for his purposes and would have allowed him to hone in on the bond between Child and Maker, but it was so much more delightful to feel the shudder as the other vampire resisted the instinct to fight back. For a moment, Sungjong almost wished Kiseop would, but then the other vampire stilled, accepting whatever was to be done with him.
With one more drag of blood and a put upon sigh, Sungjong wrapped slender fingers around the other vampire’s biceps and focused on the blood he was drinking into him. It took little effort to find the bond that he was looking for. The next moment he reached out and twisted the fabric of reality to suit himself.
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The fact that he had been ready for the gut wrenching sensation of being displaced was the only thing that kept Kiseop from stumbling about like a drunken human once they had arrived. The ancient vampire had released both his neck and his arm upon arrival and although he could still feel blood oozing from the rapidly healing gash on his neck, Kiseop’s focus was only for his Child.
There on the ground lay Hoon, a stake through his heart and his very blood calling out to his Maker. A man with a triumphant grin was pouring gasoline all over him. Kiseop snarled and shot forward. He couldn’t have stopped his Talent if he tried. The moment his fingers touched the man’s arm it turned to ash and drifted away.
The human screamed in pain and terror and Kiseop delighted in the panicked actions it suddenly caused in the humans around. An instant later the man’s head was no longer attached to his body and Sungjong was grinning at him from behind the remains. The blond vampire lapped at the blood where the man’s neck had once been and watched him. As much as Kiseop would like to, he didn’t think that he would be able to survive a challenge to the older vampire for stealing a kill that had been rightfully his.
Gunfire interrupted his thoughts and he let his Talent flow through his body, turning anything that touched him to ash, including the bullets before they could fully impact him. Sungjong simply disappeared, but strangely the corpse did not sink to the ground as it should have. There was a scream of pain five feet behind him, and the tinkling of the blond vampire’s laughter. Kiseop ignored it and turned to his child.
“This,” he snarled, kneeling by the prone form, “is exactly why I didn’t want you running off by yourself.” Kiseop laid a finger on the stake and it disappeared in a poof of ash. Then, in order to not damage his child, Kiseop pulled back his Talent within himself. “Here,” he tore a chunk out of his own wrist and pressed the blood first into the wound and then against Hoon’s mouth. It would help his Child to heal the wound that would be fatal to any other species.
A mumbled word against his wrist made him pause. “What?” he growled, moving moving from Hoon just enough that the young vampire could speak.
“Soohyun,” he whispered, barely audible. “Help him.”
Kiseop glanced over at the chained werewolf and snorted. “There is no help for him now.” The werewolf appeared to be caught between one form and another, the tight chains not allowing him to shift his bulk properly without removing a limb from him. “There is nothing for him but to die.”
“Please,” Hoon wheezed pitifully, shoving at Kiseop’s wrist and trying to to roll over to his side.
Kiseop sighed in exasperation. “It won’t do any good. He is wolf now.” Yet, in an effort to make Hoon be still and allow him to begin healing, Kiseop moved to the wolf. The creature snarled at him dangerously, trying to thrash his way free.
“Of all the foolish things,” Kiseop grumbled. He grabbed a chain with both hands and pulled. The soft metal link seperated like paper in his hands and he dropped it before moving to another. His Talent would have been so much easier to use, but silver occasionally had a funny effect with anything that was even borderline magical. Somehow he didn’t think that Hoon would appreciate him freeing the werewolf only to turn him into ash.
What did he care anyway? It was a simple werewolf, a lesser creature, and although the mate of his Master was half werewolf, he owed the creature no allegiance. Still he had been far too soft where his Child was concerned and he didn’t want to give Hoon a reason to distrust him.
The collar was the most difficult piece to break, as the creature kept squirming and managed to take a chunk out of his hand before he tore the metal free. Kiseop was fairly certain that he had caused the collar to dig in deeper before it finally broke, but it was primarily the werewolf’s fault.
It took a foot, firmly planted on the creature's chest and suffering more than one gash to his leg before he managed to completely free the wolf. As soon as he had, the creature shook him off, rolling to the side and snarling. Kiseop danced sideways, still gripping one of the chains in the event the wolf decided to come for him. There were several vocal moments of snarling directed at him, but the wolf didn’t otherwise move.
Finished, Kiseop looked over to where his Child had been recovering and froze. Hoon was gone. “Hoon!” he called, reaching through their blood bond. All he could feel is that the young vampire was near and still in danger.
“Looking for your pretty little one?” A slightly crazed voice came from the other side of the small clearing. Kiseop turned to face the tree where Sungjong crouched on a low limb. In the vampire’s hand dangled a helmet. He found that he didn’t want to examine it too carefully to determine if the helmet was empty or not.
“Yes,” Kiseop told him, narrowing his eyes. It hadn’t escaped his notice that besides the werewolf, they were the only two in the clearing. There certainly weren’t enough bodies scattered around for the amount of humans there had been although it didn’t bother him too much that he didn’t exactly know what had become of them.
“I imagine he is nice and toasty at this point,” the vampire said with a delighted cackle. Then, without offering Kiseop anything further, he disappeared.
With a slowly dawning horror, Kiseop turned around to face the burning building. It was the only place that could have fit the mildly cryptic remark from the ancient vampire. Once again, his Child was somewhere he couldn’t reach him and would likely be consumed by something that even he, a vampire of of many years, couldn’t survive.
One || Two || Three || Four
AN: So I just had to post the next chapter just because. :) I really like how this story has turned out. I am kind of sad that some of my readers that would comment all of the time seem to have disappeared, but I completely understand given how long it has been since I have written anything. I hope those of you who are reading this are enjoying it! I'll be posting the next chapter Sunday night or Monday if I can hold out that long. :)
Chapter Four
“What happened,” Jungmo asked kindly as he settled himself uninvited on Hoon’s bed.
“Nothing,” the young vampire snapped, cradling his injured wrist and stubbornly staring at the wall.
“Ah, yes,” Jungmo replied knowingly. “Nothing is something that could certainly upset anyone.”
“It was just a note,” Hoon growled, irritated, “He didn’t have to break my wrist over it.”
“People tend to have different reactions when someone touches what was theirs. We had a vampire here once who used to throw things if he thought someone has so much as looked at something of his. There was a point in time that we didn’t so much as keep a china plate anywhere in his wing of the building. Eventually, of course, he figured out that throwing pillows and blankets wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he thought it was and he changed tactics.” Jungmo held out a mug of dark red liquid. “Here this will help.”
Hoon glared at it for a moment before snatching it. In one gulp he downed the contents of the mug, the rewarmed blood sliding down his throat like cough syrup. He grimaced and sighed. “Thank you.”
“It’s no trouble,” Jungmo responded, accepting the cup back from him.
The silence stretched on for several minutes before Hoon spoke again. “I think it was a letter from a woman that he used to be close to,” the young vampire said quietly.
“His former mate I would imagine.”
Hoon’s head snapped up and he stared at the man sitting beside him, “What?”
Jungmo shrugged as if it made no difference to him. “I had heard of a lone wolf mated pair that lived around here. Although uncommon, it isn’t unheard of, so I didn’t think anything of it. I believe it was a year or so ago though that something terrible happened. No one is really clear but somehow she was killed, leaving him behind.”
“How do you think it happened?” Hoon asked softly.
“The best explanation I have heard is a freak hunting accident, but why they were hunting with silver bullets no one can figure out,” Jungmo told him.
All at once, several things clicked into place. “It wasn’t an accident,” Hoon said firmly, not believing it until the words were out of his mouth.
“You can’t possibly know that,” Jungmo replied gently.
“Yes I do. A while ago, before Kiseop grounded me to the Seeth, there were people in the forest. From what I could see of their auras they looked like they wanted to kill. We snuck away from them and I had to sleep at Soohyun’s house because of the sun. When I left the next night, I didn’t see any trace of them but tonight Soohyun told me that they were hunters that hunted things they considered non-human, he seemed sure. What if these Hunters are the ones that shot his mate? If he is right then it wasn't an accident and-” Hoon broke off abruptly as the nights events fluttered through his mind.
“What is it?” Jungmo prompted, focused and intent on what Hoon had to say.
There was moment's pause, then, “It could be nothing.”
“It usually isn’t.”
“Soohyun was covered in blood tonight, human blood and his aura was really bright, angry almost but deeper. He has a mark on his shoulder that is too new to have been from when we saw the Hunters together even if it were from silver.” Things were starting to add up in his head and Hoon didn’t like where they were going. “What if he is hunting the Hunters?” Hoon whispered.
“That would be disastrous. Not only are the Hunters likely to figure out he is coming after them and take measures, but the other supernatural community members won’t stand quietly, not for long. He puts too much risk of exposure of all of us and if these are truly Hunters, we are lucky that they are killing and not taking various samples of us to study.”
Jungmo studied Hoon for a moment and then told him firmly, “You have to get him to stop. If you can’t Jay will have to and I don’t think that will end well for anyone.”
Hoon’s eyes widened at the implications. “I’ll try.”
“That is all anyone can ask,” Jungmo agreed with a nod. He placed a hand on Hoon’s arm. “Not tonight I think, but tomorrow.”
After a moment, Hoon nodded in reluctant agreement.
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He had a plan, or something that faintly resembled one. It had taken most of his trip through the forest to figure out what he was going to say and he still wasn't fully certain that he knew. An apology was probably in order, although Soohyun had broken his wrist. It had already healed well enough and after a bit of his Maker's blood, it was just a bit tender. Had he still been human there probably would have been nothing that could have saved the wrist.
Still, Hoon had messed with what was not his, in the innermost sanctum of a werewolf no less. He figured that made him deserve whatever he got in return for that infraction even if it was much more violent than what was acceptable by human standards. Hoon had only been something other than strictly human for a short amount of time, but he had already figured out that things didn’t quite work the same way in this new world.
His speech was nearly complete in his head as he silently turned through the last bush and then instantly froze. He had been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed what his own senses had been telling him. There, scattered in front of Soohyun’s house, were six humans that didn’t belong. Their auras boiled with harsh colors that he recognized as contempt, anger, and hate. On the ground, snarling in anger and caught halfway between man and wolf, was Soohyun. Pure silver wound around his body in the form of chains, complete with a thick collar. Blood oozed from beneath the metal as he struggled against it.
One of the men that Hoon could only assume were Hunters, was holding a gun pointed at the werewolf. If they were this well prepared, he knew it was likely the gun was loaded with silver. Without further thought, Hoon reacted using a boost of his new found speed. Dashing across the small clearing in front of the house, he hit the man standing over Soohyun, reaching for the gun.
There shouldn’t have been any contest in terms of strength, as Hoon now had the strength of a vampire which was ten times that of a man. Despite that, the Hunter had far more experience. The human released the gun to him and twisted before kicking out. The foot connected with Hoon’s diaphragm and sent him reeling backwards. A second later pain bloomed from his back.
“Fucking supernatural monster,” the Hunter spat lunging forward. Human fingers closed on Hoon’s neck and momentum sent him falling backwards. With his vampire reflexes and strength, it should have been easy to avoid or simply just stand against, but for some reason he had no strength. A moment later, fear flared in him, as he realized he couldn’t bring himself to move. Hoon’s back slammed into the ground, driving the sharp pain further through him and out the other side of his chest. In horror he tried to look down at his own chest but he couldn’t manage to even get his head to tip that way.
“Must be a baby vamp for a stake to have worked so effectively. The last one I tried it on didn’t seem to work this well,” a different human voice said as a man loomed over him. The man’s aura thrummed with satisfaction.
A stake, Hoon realized belatedly, he had been run through with a stake to the heart. He hadn’t realized that would do anything to his kind, but it appeared that he was an idiot. Once again he had acted without thinking and this time, it seemed, the consequences would be far worse.
Beside him, Soohyun’s struggles increased in intensity as did his growls. “Where is your cockiness now?” Came the sound of one of the humans voices. “What’s the matter? You can’t bother to form words? You’ll die growling and slobbering just like your little wolf bitch.”
Abruptly the growls cut off, only to be replaced with a long low note that would have sent chills through Hoon’s body if he had been able to move. He wasn’t overly familiar with the cries of wolves, but he had to imagine it couldn’t be anything good for the hunters.
“Aw maybe if you die like a good little dog, we’ll throw your body into the fire with your house,” a Hunter taunted.
Carefully Hoon drew in a shallow breath despite the pain it caused him and paid attention to the scents his nose brought him. He smelled blood, his and Soohyun’s but layered over that was the smell of smoke.
“What do you want done with this one?” A hunter asked.
“Burn it with the house,” the human he had attacked replied with no more concern than he would have had for garbage.
Although he couldn't turn his head, couldn't manage to get his throat to work to form sound, or anything more than shallowly draw in breath, he could hear just fine. The splash of liquid over his body and the stench of gas were all clearly definable to his brain. As a vampire he was much more sturdy than any human. A stake through the heart, although paralyzing, would not do any real permanent damage. Flames, however, would be more than capable of killing even the strongest and oldest of his kind.
Desperately he called out in panic with the only thing he could, his mind.
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“I don't know. I would like to go somewhere warm on vacation this year,” Kevin admitted. Kiseop couldn't help but to smile as he carded his hands through the hair of his young pet that was stretched out on the bed with him. “I mean I can still go in the sun and enjoy that but maybe we can find somewhere where it is warm at night to so we can all go swimming or something. It might be good for Hoon.”
“That might be,” Kiseop agreed quietly. Something normal like a vacation might help his young vampire to settle more securely into his new way of life.
“I mean it wouldn't have to be anything big,” Kevin rattled on, staring at the ceiling as he let his thoughts pour out from between his lips. “It wouldn’t even have to be expensive although I’m sure -” abruptly his speech cut off as his head and upper body dropped flat onto the bed. A moment ago they he had been supported by the body of the vampire to whom he belonged. Now they were simply gone.
Leaning up on his elbows revealed that Kiseop was nowhere to be found. The door stood open, as if someone had simply not bothered to close it. It had been a long time since he had seen the vampire move with the speed he was capable of. Kevin knew that it must be something truly wrong to cause the man to leave him without a single word.
Rolling off the bed, Kevin gathered his robe about himself and located his lost slipper. He refused to just lay around and wait to be told what was going on. Instead he would go and make someone tell him what was going on.
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The blond vampire wrinkled his nose. Standing just outside his door was one of the Seethe that now smelled of fear, anger, and confusion. Sungjong wished that the one would enter his rooms unannounced. Just once he would love for someone here to challenge him, but it appeared that all were scared of him. That was alright too.
With a grin he reached out with his mind and opened the door, allowing the other vampire access to his rooms. Young Kiseop walked in. He was an interesting one, or so Sungjong thought. His Talent was both destructive and dangerous, something that would be interesting for the much older vampire to cultivate in himself. He simply hadn’t felt the desire to do so yet.
“Sungjong,” Kiseop said softly and then dropped to a knee and a deep formal bow. “I come to ask a favor of you, as I know no other that is capable of what I need.”
Interesting indeed. Sungjong laughed lightly and pushed off from the ceiling where he had been standing as if gravity made no difference to him. Effortlessly, in mid air he flipped, and landed silently on the balls of his feet in front of the vampire. If he had startled the other creature it wasn’t evident.
“Speak,” he told the other in a sing song voice. Occasionally, Sungjong would have killed the other vampire out right for even daring to ask for a favor, but he was feeling a touch playful and more than a little bored.
“There is something wrong with my Child. I can feel him. He is hurt and in danger, but he is not close. I fear there would not be time for me to locate him on my own which would undoubtedly be a lengthy process. I know that you have abilities that let you move from one space to another within a breath. I ask that you take me,” Kiseop released in a rush, not looking up from where his head was bowed.
“And what,” Sungjong dropped into a crouch and lifted the other vampire’s face with a finger, “is in it for me?” His grin spread at the thought of all the delicious possibilities that could be offered to him.
“I know that you long for playthings, that you haven’t had much to do recently. I offer you whatever has caused trouble for my Child. Whatever it is, it is yours,” Kiseop replied after a moment. The vampire was clearly trying to keep his gaze steady and it amused Sungjong. The prospect of new things to play with was almost to good to pass up.
“And if it turns out to be nothing?” Sungjong asked.
“Then you may have me,” Kiseop replied without a moment's hesitation.
Sungjong’s grin widened. Either way it was much better than hanging about his ceiling and it would keep him occupied until his puppies returned. “Done,” he declared. Then faster than the other vampire could move, Sungjong struck and sunk his teeth into Kiseop’s neck.
A single drop of blood would have been more than enough for his purposes and would have allowed him to hone in on the bond between Child and Maker, but it was so much more delightful to feel the shudder as the other vampire resisted the instinct to fight back. For a moment, Sungjong almost wished Kiseop would, but then the other vampire stilled, accepting whatever was to be done with him.
With one more drag of blood and a put upon sigh, Sungjong wrapped slender fingers around the other vampire’s biceps and focused on the blood he was drinking into him. It took little effort to find the bond that he was looking for. The next moment he reached out and twisted the fabric of reality to suit himself.
▪▫▪☼▪▫▪
The fact that he had been ready for the gut wrenching sensation of being displaced was the only thing that kept Kiseop from stumbling about like a drunken human once they had arrived. The ancient vampire had released both his neck and his arm upon arrival and although he could still feel blood oozing from the rapidly healing gash on his neck, Kiseop’s focus was only for his Child.
There on the ground lay Hoon, a stake through his heart and his very blood calling out to his Maker. A man with a triumphant grin was pouring gasoline all over him. Kiseop snarled and shot forward. He couldn’t have stopped his Talent if he tried. The moment his fingers touched the man’s arm it turned to ash and drifted away.
The human screamed in pain and terror and Kiseop delighted in the panicked actions it suddenly caused in the humans around. An instant later the man’s head was no longer attached to his body and Sungjong was grinning at him from behind the remains. The blond vampire lapped at the blood where the man’s neck had once been and watched him. As much as Kiseop would like to, he didn’t think that he would be able to survive a challenge to the older vampire for stealing a kill that had been rightfully his.
Gunfire interrupted his thoughts and he let his Talent flow through his body, turning anything that touched him to ash, including the bullets before they could fully impact him. Sungjong simply disappeared, but strangely the corpse did not sink to the ground as it should have. There was a scream of pain five feet behind him, and the tinkling of the blond vampire’s laughter. Kiseop ignored it and turned to his child.
“This,” he snarled, kneeling by the prone form, “is exactly why I didn’t want you running off by yourself.” Kiseop laid a finger on the stake and it disappeared in a poof of ash. Then, in order to not damage his child, Kiseop pulled back his Talent within himself. “Here,” he tore a chunk out of his own wrist and pressed the blood first into the wound and then against Hoon’s mouth. It would help his Child to heal the wound that would be fatal to any other species.
A mumbled word against his wrist made him pause. “What?” he growled, moving moving from Hoon just enough that the young vampire could speak.
“Soohyun,” he whispered, barely audible. “Help him.”
Kiseop glanced over at the chained werewolf and snorted. “There is no help for him now.” The werewolf appeared to be caught between one form and another, the tight chains not allowing him to shift his bulk properly without removing a limb from him. “There is nothing for him but to die.”
“Please,” Hoon wheezed pitifully, shoving at Kiseop’s wrist and trying to to roll over to his side.
Kiseop sighed in exasperation. “It won’t do any good. He is wolf now.” Yet, in an effort to make Hoon be still and allow him to begin healing, Kiseop moved to the wolf. The creature snarled at him dangerously, trying to thrash his way free.
“Of all the foolish things,” Kiseop grumbled. He grabbed a chain with both hands and pulled. The soft metal link seperated like paper in his hands and he dropped it before moving to another. His Talent would have been so much easier to use, but silver occasionally had a funny effect with anything that was even borderline magical. Somehow he didn’t think that Hoon would appreciate him freeing the werewolf only to turn him into ash.
What did he care anyway? It was a simple werewolf, a lesser creature, and although the mate of his Master was half werewolf, he owed the creature no allegiance. Still he had been far too soft where his Child was concerned and he didn’t want to give Hoon a reason to distrust him.
The collar was the most difficult piece to break, as the creature kept squirming and managed to take a chunk out of his hand before he tore the metal free. Kiseop was fairly certain that he had caused the collar to dig in deeper before it finally broke, but it was primarily the werewolf’s fault.
It took a foot, firmly planted on the creature's chest and suffering more than one gash to his leg before he managed to completely free the wolf. As soon as he had, the creature shook him off, rolling to the side and snarling. Kiseop danced sideways, still gripping one of the chains in the event the wolf decided to come for him. There were several vocal moments of snarling directed at him, but the wolf didn’t otherwise move.
Finished, Kiseop looked over to where his Child had been recovering and froze. Hoon was gone. “Hoon!” he called, reaching through their blood bond. All he could feel is that the young vampire was near and still in danger.
“Looking for your pretty little one?” A slightly crazed voice came from the other side of the small clearing. Kiseop turned to face the tree where Sungjong crouched on a low limb. In the vampire’s hand dangled a helmet. He found that he didn’t want to examine it too carefully to determine if the helmet was empty or not.
“Yes,” Kiseop told him, narrowing his eyes. It hadn’t escaped his notice that besides the werewolf, they were the only two in the clearing. There certainly weren’t enough bodies scattered around for the amount of humans there had been although it didn’t bother him too much that he didn’t exactly know what had become of them.
“I imagine he is nice and toasty at this point,” the vampire said with a delighted cackle. Then, without offering Kiseop anything further, he disappeared.
With a slowly dawning horror, Kiseop turned around to face the burning building. It was the only place that could have fit the mildly cryptic remark from the ancient vampire. Once again, his Child was somewhere he couldn’t reach him and would likely be consumed by something that even he, a vampire of of many years, couldn’t survive.
One || Two || Three || Four
AN: So I just had to post the next chapter just because. :) I really like how this story has turned out. I am kind of sad that some of my readers that would comment all of the time seem to have disappeared, but I completely understand given how long it has been since I have written anything. I hope those of you who are reading this are enjoying it! I'll be posting the next chapter Sunday night or Monday if I can hold out that long. :)